SEC allows Third Avenue to temporarily freeze redemptions

Third Avenue Management LLC received approval from U.S. regulators to temporarily suspend redemptions from its $788.5 million high-yield bond fund. The New York-based management firm will be required to put in place investor and market protections for its Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund, and be subject to ongoing oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission, as a condition of the approval, a spokeswoman for the regulator said in a statement. If the fund were unable to suspend redemptions, institutional investors would be best positioned to take advantage of any withdrawal opportunities, to the detriment of retail investors, the SEC said Wednesday in a regulatory filing. (More: Third Avenue fund's meltdown sheds new light on the value of prospectus reading) Third Avenue said last week it was going to move assets from its credit fund to a liquidating trust after losses and redemptions left it unable to repay redeeming clients without resorting to fire sales. Clients would have gotten interests in the trust, but would not have been able to pull out cash until the assets were liquidated over time.